Midland Driver Won’t Face Charges In Vets Parade Crash

MIDLAND (AP/CBSDFW.COM) – Officials in a West Texas city where four wounded veterans died when a train hit their parade float wouldn’t say Friday why they won’t pursue criminal charges against the driver.

City spokeswoman Sara Higgins said the police report isn’t finished but investigators “wanted to get it out” that Midland resident Dale Andrew Hayden, 50, won’t be charged.

She said the reasons against filing charges would be explained in the completed report, which is expected to be done within the next week. The report will then go to the district attorney, Higgins said.

Hayden was driving a flatbed truck carrying wounded veterans and their wives in a Nov. 15 parade when it was hit by a Union Pacific train traveling 62 mph. The National Transportation Safety Board says Hayden ventured onto the track after the warning signals started flashing and before the arms had descended.